


The Joy Hunters

by HelixDraxzonyx



Series: HelixDraxzonyx's Horror Shorts Collection [8]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Child Death, Gen, Original Character Death(s), Torture, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:21:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26780563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HelixDraxzonyx/pseuds/HelixDraxzonyx
Summary: What started off as a young boy's perfect 10th birthday ends horrifically.
Series: HelixDraxzonyx's Horror Shorts Collection [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1547110
Kudos: 2





	The Joy Hunters

_The following case file is not one that I ever had any intention of ever sharing due to the nature of the events that took place. Unfortunately, Orion was absolutely adamant that I disclose this incident, going so far as to pull rank in order to pressure me into complying. So, it is with great reluctance that I share with you now, the events of Case File UD10-1168-2._

Today is going to be amazing. I can just tell. Even the weather seems to be celebrating: bright sunshine and not a cloud in the sky. The birds are singing, butterflies are flapping and all the flowers are blooming too. It's as if the whole world is working together to make my 10th birthday the perfect day. How can anything go wrong?

Toasted waffles for breakfast, with chocolate milk. Mom always knows my favourites. I even get to watch Pokémon while eating. How cool is that? She tells me that my presents are waiting for me when I'm ready. She also tells me that she has a big surprise as well. As if I wasn't excited already. A big surprise, what could it be?

I finish my breakfast and head towards the living room. Going through the hall I hear a knock on the door. Since I'm there I open the door. No way! Dad? My soldier Dad is here too? Is this the surprise Mom was telling me about? It must be! And he's got presents too! I haven't seen him for two years, now he's back, telling me that I've grown into such a big strong man now.

I'm so excited, and today's so amazing that my head's spinning. I can't take it all in at once. My hero Dad has come home from fighting terrorists. He came home for my 10th birthday. My presents have been amazing too. All the games and DVDs I wanted, all the toys and clothes. Everything is perfect, and this day isn't even over yet. We're going bowling later too, cool!

Lunch was perfect, bowling was amazing too. Dad taught me a few things to help me get better scores. I even landed my first ever strike. We had a blast playing arcade games together too. I should've known Dad would be awesome at the shooting games, but he can't beat me at air hockey, it turns out. First time I've ever beaten Dad at anything.

Spent the evening watching the new Pokémon movie with my Dad. I never knew he knew so much about Pokémon himself. Turns out it's been around since he was my age. That's cool. Blew out the candles on my birthday cake and my wish came true right away. I wished Dad could stay with us. He announced that he had left the army. He'll stay with us. A perfect end to a perfect day.

Something's wrong. I can feel it. I can't explain it, but something is wrong here. There's something in my room, but I can't see it. The night light is on, there's nothing to be seen, but it's here. I don't know how, but I can kind of feel it. It's in my room, and it's looking at me. Even though I can't see it, even though I don't know if it even has eyes, I know it's looking at me.

I'm scared. This is all wrong. This is too weird. There's something here and it's getting closer, but I don't know what it is. I tried to call my parents, but something rushed into my mouth and wrapped itself inside my throat. I can't talk, can't scream or shout. I can't make a noise at all. This thing, it's wrapping all around me. My arms, my legs, my body. Everything. I can't move.

Mom... Dad... please save me. I'm scared. This thing... it's starting to hurt me. It's stretching me out, pulling in all directions, twisting, squeezing tighter. My joints are popping, my bones are creaking. The pain... it's getting worse. I want to cry but I can't. It's even squeezing at my eyes, my nose. I can feel it inside me, squeezing my body from the inside.

Somebody! Help! Please help! My fingers! It's started to break my fingers. Oh God it hurts! It hurts so much. Why is this happening to me? What did I do wrong? My wrists are breaking too. The pain is so bad. I want to be sick but I can't. It's squeezing my throat shut. It's squeezing everything so tightly while it pulls me apart. My skin is starting to rip. I'm bleeding. I'm dying.

God! Save me! I'm begging you! My fingers have been pulled right off, but they're still being crushed. The thing is squeezing tighter, pulling harder, breaking and ripping and tearing and crushing. I don't know what it wants. I don't know what else to do. I can't do anything. I'm too weak, too powerless. God! You have to do something!

Why? Why won't anyone help me? Why won't anyone save me? Dad... you fight the bad guys, but there's one here, hurting your son, and you aren't here. You're supposed to be my hero, and you aren't here. No-one is here to save me. There's no-one who will rescue me. God... there is no God. He doesn't exist. I'm all alone. Helpless. Just kill me already.

_The above extract was pieced together from fragments of memories that were collected from the soul of the victim, whose identity has been withheld. A Crisis Response Unit from The Institute arrived at the scene, but the victim had been dead for two hours already. No remains were found. Not physically at least. Just a disembodied soul, hovering above the child's bed, a beacon of grief and despair, and rage. Orion insisted I share this case file as a reminder that despite everything that he or The Institute is capable of, we can't save everyone. The people like Trent Dalton and I, we are the lucky minority. The majority of victims however, are beyond saving by the time we reach them. This boy is just one such case. We know very little about what killed him. The race is known to The Institute simply as Joy Hunters, because that is what they do. They traverse the vast gulf of space to track down anyone feeling intense joy, then proceed to subject them to slow and torturous agony until all joy is extinguished, replaced by despair, which the Joy Hunters appear to feed upon. They remind me of the Dementors of Harry Potter, or Pennywise from Stephen King's IT. But we know virtually nothing about the Joy Hunters. Just a name, and a hunting method. We don't know where they come from, what kind of nature they have, what they look like, how they can travel so quickly. They have been known to hunt in other galaxies, but we have never been able to catch one in the act, let alone beforehand. They just seem to appear whenever someone is feeling especially high levels of happiness. There is nothing we can suggest to avoid encountering them. There are no known defences. We don't even know how much joy is required to lure them. Some people can go their lives without facing them, despite many joyful moments. Others, like this case's victim, can experience one day of exceptional joy, and fall prey._

_I hope you can understand why I was so reluctant to share this story, given its harrowing nature. Orion however felt that it was necessary. A reminder for people not to depend upon The Institute, that your best hope for survival ultimately is to avoid messing with the magical, the occult, the interdimensional, the extraterrestrial, or indeed anything at all “out of the ordinary.” This concludes my disclosure of Case File UD10-1168-2._


End file.
